10.28.2005

first frost

This morning when I walked the dogs, the plants along the waterfront trail were covered in a layer of ice. It's still mild enough for a light jacket, but I need gloves in the morning, and today I could have used my ear muffs.

18 comments:

James Redekop said...

One thing I don't envy about your short walk to the lake is the cold, cold wind you're going to be getting off the water very soon. You'll want to make sure you have a very thick coat.

hemlock said...

MMmmmmmmmmmmm....winter. I find it hard this time of year because it's too cold to do summer activities but to warm to do winter activites. In a month and a bit however, I'll be skiing up a storm.

I love crisp mornings. We had a heavy frost too. It went down to -5oC last night.

zydeco fish said...

It's all down hill from here :-(

Unknown said...

Have you discovered the toque yet? That got me when I first heard it...

laura k said...

Have you discovered the toque yet?

Do you mean the website?

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

I think she meant the kind of hat we wear in winter.

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Speaking of which, what do you call it in NYC?

According to

Wikipedia
, Americans call it a number of things, but in Canada its universally called a tuque(/toque)

laura k said...

I think she meant the kind of hat we wear in winter.

But she said "when I heard it". That's why I asked. I know it's a hat, but heard what?

Speaking of which, what do you call it in NYC?

Nothing in particular. A hat. A knit cap, maybe. Or a ski cap.

Allan, from Vermont, calls it a toque.

Funny thing, a toque pronounced "toke" is the big puffy white hat worn by pastry chefs, although mostly cartoon versions of chefs these days.

Wangmo said...

Isn't it pronounced "tuke" rhyming with nuke? Or is that just a Quebec thing?

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Yes, it's pronounced "tuke" like "nuke".

But people sometimes spell it toque (like the chef's hat which isn't pronounced the same) or touque. The "proper" spelling is tuque.

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Or where you referring to the chef's hat?

That might be a Quebec thing....

Wangmo said...

Naw, I was definitely refering to the most elegant of winter accessories.

Time to start unpacking the winter stuff. At least I'm not in the Eastern Townships where they just got 25 cm of snow this week.

*shudder*

laura k said...

You both have me completely confused.

Unknown said...

I definitely meant the "hat", "cap", "beanie", or "tuque" which you wear on your head. Sorry for the wrong spelling.

It's definitely not just a quebec thing because everyone here in Vancouver who is english speaking says it. I'd say it's a French Canadian influence but really I'm not sure how everyone got to saying "tuque"...

- Jen

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

You both have me completely confused.

Maybe one of your first culture-clashes.

When expat said "Have you discovered the toque yet?" that instantly registered in my mind as talking about the hat.

You knew that a tuque was a hat, but a lot of foreigners don't which is why she said "That got me when I first heard it".

It seemed simple to me, I couldn't figure out why you thought she was talking about anything else.

Kyle_From_Ottawa said...

Then that started the discussion about the "toque" (chef's hat), which then confused jessica because Canadians always assume toque=touque=tuque=winter hat.

laura k said...

Whew, thanks for clearing that up, Kyle.

I didn't know the two kinds of hats were spelled differently.

What threw me was "when I first heard it". I thought, how can you hear a hat? :)

Wrye said...

The "proper" spelling is tuque.

That...can't be. Lies, I say! Lies!